Selling is a very challenging job. Even though many people believe they can do it, only a few do it really, really well. Sales management of this group of people can also be challenging. What sales people need to have and/or need to know:

* You cannot have a fragile ego; you have to be able to handle 'no, thanks' without letting it bother you.
* You have to be able to manage your time, set priorities, and take initiative.
* You also have to be somewhat of a detective when researching a prospect: by developing a prospect list through attendance at trade shows, by reading trade journals, by attending your potential customers' (not yours) industry trade events, by researching directories, asking for referrals, by cold calling, and more.
* You need at least basic record keeping and math skills (for expenses,calculating unit prices, reviewing proposals, etc.).
* You have to know how to sell and what to sell.

There is nothing worse than sending a sales representative out into the market who doesn't know what he or she is talking about. Ouch. It's bad for the individual and it's bad for your company's reputation. The sales representative is often the primary link to your customer. The customer talks to the sales person, not to the business owner, or the controller, operations manager, shipper, systems administrator, or other staff. Make sure your sales staff is well trained before they start making customer calls or before you launch a new product or service. There are a number of different sales positions, some of them are listed here:

* the deliverer and/or order taker: this position is usually found in the retail market, the individual who delivers the product also takes the order for the next shipment; a pure order taker might not deliver product and can be found working both inside the company as an inside sales representative or in an outside sales role;
* the technical sales representative is a position where a high degree of technical knowledge and capability is required to sell the product or service;
* the maintenance or service sales representative: this position often conducts a maintenance role - the customer is a long term client who is high maintenance and valuable, new orders will come from providing good service on a regular basis;
* and the new business sales representative (sometimes known as the business development representative): this position is responsible for prospecting and finding new business opportunities.

All businesses need to have sales staff (some, if not all, of these efforts can be outsourced) to prospect for new business; communicate with customers and within the company; provide services such as help solve problems, provide quotes, communicate shipping delays, provide face to face (in person) and sometime voice to voice (phone) service, and gather information on the customer, the competition and the market. Most businesses cannot afford to hire a full range of different sales people (deliverer, order taker, technical sales representative, maintenance representative, new business representative), so you hire people you believe to have a mix of those capabilities.

This can be a challenge because the reality is that you need someone who will bring you new business and someone who will maintain and support your existing business. If you cannot do that with the staff you have (all maintainers or all new business representatives), then consider re-deploying your staff.

Can your inside sales or customer service people be trained on how to sell and take on maintenance roles (which would need to include some face to face visits)? Can you hire more specialized sales staff? Can you outsource some of your needs? Can you re-train the sales staff you have (this is not always as easy as it sounds: maintainers are not comfortable doing cold calls - don't force them to do what they cannot be successful at; remember you need them to handle the customers you still want to keep)?

On average sales people in today's market can make between 5 and 6 calls a day. I mean valuable, thorough, sales presentations. If all you are doing is dropping off material, hire a well dressed courier - they can drop off 15 packages of material a day. Prioritize all your accounts into key accounts, mid size accounts, small accounts and do-not-call accounts (credit issues, impossible to satisfy, etc.). Flag the accounts in each of the first three categories that have growth potential - a small account can grow to be a mid size or key account. Assign accounts based on your staff's capabilities but also give them some 'stretch' accounts - customers that make them work a bit harder and slightly out of their comfort zone. Provide a new account incentive for your sales people; for example, if they achieve 20% new business growth in year one they will receive a 6% commission (as opposed to a 3% commission on regular, returning business).

If you have in-company sales staff, you will recognize that most sales representatives want the independence of managing themselves. Trained sales people want to do what you hired them to do, but they want you to be available if and when they need you (to answer questions, to support their sales pitch, to give them advice (they might not take your advice, but they usually like to hear it).

The best sales person (by far) that ever worked for me was called (by other sales managers in the large size company I worked for at the time) a 'prima dona' for her behavior and expectations. And she was. But she was absolutely worth the time and attention I gave her. She outsold and outperformed entire sales departments. Her feeling about management was that it was there to serve her - to help her get the order. She was absolutely right. That was why we, as sales managers, were there - to make sure that our sales representatives could focus on selling.

Sales people need to be able to manage their time, set priorities and take initiative - they cannot wait for the business to come to them (this sounds self evident but not all sales people are created equal). The advantage that a sales representative has with personal selling is the face to face contact and the ability to 'read' the customer and deal immediately with objections before closing the sales. A good sales person can read customers very well and will be experienced in handling the outcomes.

Would increasing your sales success have a beneficial effect on your financial success? Would you or your organization benefit from enhancing your sales skills? Do the current economic conditions require better sales abilities to accomplish your goals? If any or all of these are true for you, then this article will help you achieve greater success.

In the 25 years I have offered sales coaching and training, I have seen many theories for improving sales come and go. There are some basic secrets to selling and developing in 6 areas which will increase your productivity and success in selling. If you find that you require more experience or skills in any of these areas, you should determine the very best ways to get assistance so you can hit, and then surpass, your sales goals.

No matter whether you are selling products or services these 6 secrets will work for you. I have had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of salespeople from a wide range of industries including: real estate, insurance, mortgage, financial services (investments, stocks, etc.), business to business sales reps, services (advertising, medical, legal, education/training, health), large products (airplanes, oil rigs, trucks, tractors, computer systems, communication systems), consumer products, and even entertainment industry sales. Each industry is unique and each organization has their own culture but the basic principles of selling cross all these boundaries...

The following 6 Secrets to Selling Success are obvious and yet essential to master for you to reach your goals.

Sales Skills
Gathering Information-Research
Communication
Focus
Accountability
Organization: Tracking contacts and sales

Sales skills include prospecting for referrals, sales interviewing, educating (demos, unique selling proposition, getting your product/service to fit your prospect's need,) reading people, and closing. These sales skills are each special talents that you may or may not feel that you have mastered. Getting qualified leads or prospects can require determination, creativity, and a "sifting process" that may require going through a lot of "No thank you's." Every product or service has unique ways of "filling the pipeline" and with attention and discipline this essential part of the process will lead you to the qualified prospects that you require. (This is easier said than done. However, developing a system and having support or an accountability partner will make this difficult activity more successful.) Knowing the keys to interviewing your prospects will give you the specific targeted knowledge to understand, then meet, your client's requirements which makes the selling process easier. Taking this information and then translating your "pitch" or sales presentations into the most effective demonstrations will give you greater success. Portraying the key features that will solve your potential customer's challenge and shows the unique qualities that your product/service can provide will lead into your "close" when done with skill. Reading people and then closing are skills that you can develop and enhance. These must fit your product and your personal style to be most effective.

Gathering information and doing your research will make you more successful. Understanding your product/service, your client's industry, economic trends, your competitors strengths & weaknesses, and most importantly, who the "decision makers" are become the backbone of good research. There are no short cuts that can allow you to get through this part of the process with ease, except for an occasional "lucky" contact. (You can make your own "luck" but this requires experience and expertise that most salespeople do not start out with.) Calling your targeted organizations and getting interviews with a wide range of people will help you understand their unique challenges and help you to identify the decision makers. The techniques for accomplishing this important step in the selling process can be learned and developed.

Communication, along with "reading people," can be a very important tool to "connect" with your prospect and to then use this connection to convert the prospect into a customer/client. Since communication is often the source of conflict, confusion, and stress, this is not a minor concern. Like other of the sales skills this can be learned and developed into an important strength that will set you apart from other people who struggle with closing sales. In great communication, you will observe tips from your prospects that will enable you to create rapport and then place emphasis on the product features that they will find most attractive. This will enable you to fill the client's needs that make this sale. As an example, if your prospect (and identified decision maker) is a "dominating" type, you will want to present your product as a "cutting edge" exciting new development. If your decision maker is an engineer, you may have to discuss all the careful research and meticulous development that went into your product to get the best result in the sales process. Knowing who they are and how best to communicate the features will make you more effective. Some potential clients are trusting, some are not. Some prospects are more project oriented and others may be more people focused. This knowledge, and how to use it, are a part of the good communication skills.

Your ability to focus and to maintain the most direct path to your sales goal is another obvious, but often under trained sales skill. Sometimes just understanding the planning/goal setting process can be a challenge. More often though, the ability to remain undistracted in the pursuit of your sales objectives is the area where sales personnel may falter. There can be "a lot of balls in the air" as you juggle contacting prospects, gathering needed information, closing the deal, and then following up with past customers to maintain them as business partners or as referral sources. Focus can depend on your ability to control your own internal distractions and anxieties/pressures. Like Olympic level athletes, you must prepare your mind and body for the competition of selling and this can require coaches and trainers that assist you in getting ready to perform at the highest levels. Focusing techniques can be learned and applied. This is not an area where you can be lazy if you want long term good results.

Accountability for your success is not always built in to the selling process. It may be weird to say this but your ROI (Return on Investment) is not always easily aligned with your sales numbers and commissions. In many organizations, you may be out on your own in terms of how you work, how much you work, and how successful you are based on the work that you do. Who you report to, how often you report, and when to change your sales strategies are not as clear as they should be. Often an accountability partner, perhaps one who has a stake in your success, would be an essential addition to your achievement of your goals and dreams. A coach or mentor can support you by assisting you in maintaining your focus and holding you accountable for your regular (maybe even daily) activities that will better help you in reaching your milestones along the way to your longer term goals. As an example, if you had to e-mail or fax a daily activity report to your accountability partner that reflected the number of calls you made, the people you interviewed, the promotional packages you sent out, and the number of closing appointments you have scheduled (and their level of success), wouldn't you feel more responsible to following through on the necessary sales steps that will lead to your success. I had an executive coaching client in the mortgage industry take his department's sales from $1.5 million of sales in a month to $11 million of sales in a month, in just 5 months, by holding him accountable to his focus, his communication techniques, and his relationship building goals. He reported that it was easier than he had thought and the accountability kept him from "getting in his own way" as he moved toward record profits.

In sales having great organizational skills will make better use of your time, available resources, and help you to maintain contact with the variety of customers you have in process. There are software packages that become essential in keeping track of people and the stages of the process that you are working. Keeping track of contacts and any information that you developed through interviews is important as you work your way to the decision makers. Once you have closed the deal, you will want to continue to track these clients to maintain relationships that can lead to future sales or referrals. Great customer service and follow up will create a reputation that will make any future sales come more easily. This level of organization does not come naturally to many people, and some of us can not hire full time administrative assistants that will keep up with required organization. We need to problem solve this and to develop systems that can allow us to be better organized and more efficient.

These 6 steps to sales success can require our attention, and often, outside support to get us moving in the most profitable direction. When the economy is going through contractions or expansions, this is even more necessary. Though the 6 steps are obvious, they can prove difficult in execution so get the support or training that you need to become strong in each one of these areas. If you feel you want to go through an assessment process to better understand your strengths and your challenges, there are tools that you can use to assess your abilities. Some organizations will benchmark their entire sales force to distinguish the skills and styles that make there top producers special. This can help when hiring people that will be most successful within your organization's unique culture. You may also be able to find what training your sales people may require or who would benefit from individualized coaching programs.